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Part
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Is there a proven ROI for self checkout solutions in retail stores?
introduction
While there is no preexisting information to fully answer your question, we've used the available data to pull together key findings: Rebecca Minkoff's use of QueueHop's anti-theft self-checkout technology, a Berkeley study on self-checkouts, self-serve platforms in various industries and insights on costs and benefits. I've also included relevant articles which you may purchase for further insights.
Below you'll find an outline of our research methodology to better understand why information you've requested is publicly unavailable, as well as a deep dive into our findings.
methodology
I began researching the use of self-checkouts in the textile business, including clothing stores and fabric stores. All the details available for stores with available data will be presented below. However, the exact information requested about quantitative figures relating to the ROI of self-checkouts are unavailable. Then, I did an expanded search for all industries, but the limited information available was all quite general and less quantitative. The search criteria has been further modified to find any statistics, benefits, financial data, performance, etc. regarding self-checkouts and the results were still the same. All relevant findings will be presented below.
helpful findings
Rebecca Minkhoff launched a self-checkout option at the Soho store in 2016 to improve the shopping experience for their targeted millennial demographic. According to CEO Uri Minkoff, "millennials want to be in complete control of any and all of their shopping, and that includes payment." They partnered with QueueHop for the technology. QueueHop's technology is aimed towards customers in a hurry, dislikes dealing with sales staff, and introverts.
According to QueueHop's CEO, Lindon Gao, they are looking at implementing their self-checkout technology at other retailers' stores, including Zara. QueueHop's differentiating factor is that it reduces theft as "the security tag unlocks upon payment." Part of the appeal of self-checkouts also include fewer feelings of the judgment and less intimidation by sales staff.
There was a study from Berkeley done which provides details on the benefits of self-checkout technology. About "88% of US adults want their retail checkout experience to be faster" and the savings from removing scanning from the workflow is $88 billion, or 0.4% of the $22 trillion in brick-and-mortar retail sales. Using the NCR SelfServ Checkout Transaction Broker (TB) technology, a study has been done on the "incremental enhancements to self‐checkout kiosks." This study concluded that there is about $120,000 annual savings on $60,000 worth of kiosks and a headcount reduction of 4. A similar study of the Scandit barcode system concluded that the system also resulted in about $120,000 savings but it cost only $12,000 to implement.
There is a hybrid self-checkout setup in Singapore by Sheng Siong supermarket. Stores which implemented the system report a reduction in customer waiting time by 30 seconds and a 40% saving in manpower costs. More broadly, self-scanning technology increased the average basket value by 10%. In the airline industry, self-checkin devices reduces costs per passenger from $3.00 to $0.14 and a "fully automated check-in and boarding process" could save the industry $1.6 billion per year.
In a different article, startup costs of implementing a self-service checkout are estimate at $125,000. However, theft is increased with self-checkouts, and about "3.97% of stock, compared to just 1.47%" is stolen in the UK. To contrast the theft by customers, there are fewer cash losses by employees since fewer people would handle it. There is also less variability due to staffing issues and increases the number of available cashiers.
This paywall-locked paper titled "The effect of self-checkout quality on customer satisfaction and repatronage in a retail context" may be of interest as it investigates customer assessments of self-service technology and how it affects their future usage intentions. There is another paywall-locked paper titled "Supermarket self-checkouts and retail theft: The curious case of the SWIPERS" which may also be of interest, as it examines the effects of self-service technology on rates of shoplifting and gives profiles of the type of offenders. While shoplifting is a negative factor on using self-checkouts, it should be a factor in determining the economics of the technology. This article would also tie into how the QueueHop technology discussed earlier reduces this risk.
conclusion
Due to the limited information specifically related to the textile industry's usage of self-checkouts, I've found helpful insights related to self-checkout technology in all industries, specific examples of stores using this technology, and the limited financial data available. I've also included a couple of articles which can be purchased if interested.